![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/STP-L-RABBITS-0627-e1782502738694.jpg\")
A wild rabbit bearing horn-like protrusions made an appearance in recent years in the back porch of a house in St. Paul’s MacGroveland neighborhood (Courtesy of Kari Coad)\nShope papilloma virus<\/p>\n
Despite Hollywood takes on the zombie apocalypse and the popularity of streaming hits like \u201cThe Last of Us,\u201d there\u2019s no obvious signs in Minnesota that the end of the world as we know it is upon us \u2014 unless, of course, you count the Frankenstein rabbits.<\/p>\n
For decades, horned and tusked rabbits have been spotted throughout the Twin Cities, Wisconsin and a few other states as far away as Colorado and New York, circulating in the wild with faces full of dark, gnarly tentacle-like growths. In pictures circulating the Internet, some protrusions look to be several inches long, like a horror movie rendition of Pinocchio as depicted by bunnies.<\/p>\n
The Frankenstein rabbits, as it were, have become a common sight in some St. Paul neighborhoods. Some residents say they\u2019re on the decline. Others, on the uptick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a couple in my backyard in the North End,\u201d writes a Pioneer Press reader, in reaction to a recent picture on social media. \u201cAbout five years ago, all the rabbits in Highland looked like this. Now, not very many,\u201d writes another. \u201cWe have these in Merriam Park,\u201d writes yet another. \u201cGot a couple in MacGrove.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA few years ago I used to see rabbits in my yard that looked like they had little antlers between their ears but haven\u2019t seen them lately,\u201d said St. Paul writer and editor Ann Harrington, who surmised a pair of red tail hawks nesting in her yard this spring may have scared them away, or worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since I started paying attention to it in 2020 I\u2019ve noticed it\u2019s been consistently prevalent in the Twin Cities,\u201d said Zach Portman, a naturalist and bee taxonomist at the University of Minnesota who has photographed the infected rabbits at length. \u201cIt does seem to wax and wane, but I\u2019d say as a rough estimate I see it on one out of every 10 to 20 rabbits I come across in St. Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n
A wild rabbit bearing horn-like protrusions made an appearance in recent years in the back porch of a house in St. Paul’s MacGroveland neighborhood (Courtesy of Kari Coad)
\nShope papilloma virus<\/p>\n
While their appearance might resemble the stuff of dark fiction, the Shope papilloma virus is a well-documented and potentially fatal reality for rabbit kind. Also known as the cottontail rabbit papilloma virus, the once-rare condition (vaguely comparable to HPV in humans) causes large facial lesions \u2014 as well as unsightly growths on necks, heads and abdomens \u2014 which can either regress or become cancerous with time. When the tumors interfere with eating, some rabbits starve to death. Most come out OK.<\/p>\n